Monday, January 14, 2013

Painting OSL Weapons Effects in 5 Easy Steps

Adding an Object Source Lighting (OSL) glow on your armies weapons is an extremely effective way to make your minis stand out on the table. While it seems complicated at first, it's actually not that hard and can be quickly mastered in 5 easy steps.

Much like my tutorial from last week on Painting Fluid Filled Vials, this articles goal is to show you how to do quick and simple OSL effects on your weapons in 5 easy steps. Like the previous article; this is not Golden Deamon quality, but rather High-Quality Table Top and very effective.

Before I get into the steps, let it be known that I prefer an airbrush for this technique. However, if you do not have one, you can use a drybrush for steps 2&3.

If you are using an airbrush go for a dual-action for greater control over the spray width. This article outlines the differences well.

The Process

Step 1: Block out the illuminated area with a base color.

(In this case Vallejo Violet Red)

Step 2: Airbrush or drybrush a blast over the illuminated area with the base color lightened up a notch.

(In this case Vallejo Violet Red mixed with a dab of white)

Step 3: Airbrush a second blast of the previous color lightened up 1 more.

(Vallejo Violet Red mixed with more white)

Step 4: Hand paint a strip of the color used in step 3, lightened up even further.

(Vallejo Violet Red mixed with more white, or GW Tentacle Pink)

Step 5: Hand paint a thinner strip of color that is almost white for the final "hottest" part of the light effect.

This is an amazing and well designed tutorial. My only question is this: What about bigger models, like the Fire Prism for the Eldar? Is it pretty much the same concept? (Sorry for activating a dead post: I'm doing OSL on exactly what my question asks about.)

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Im an artsy renaissance man; A designer, an Illustrator, a Photographer, a Sculptor, a Model Converter & Painter. I enjoy all aspects of creativity and while I don't proclaim to be the best at anything, I know a bit about most things creative.
I enjoy all things evil in Warhammer 40k, Mainly Chaos and Dark Eldar as evident by my blog posts.
I'm available for commission work. Drop me an email if interested.